One of the league’s peskiest players, Rip’s been a perennial All-Star candidate on a borderline dominant team for a while now, his consistency becoming almost as redundant as his team’s. He’ll seldom do anything unbelievable, but falters even less. He brings a dangerous arsenal to the floor, the sharpshooter on a defensive-minded squad who keeps defenders on the move for the full 48.
Far from the league’s most versatile player, Hamilton’s carved out a niche as a frustrating cover; a player who never stops moving on offense and has the quickness to get off shots against opposition. Like a mid-range Reggie Miller, he’s a constantly moving; a threat sneakily find his way to an open shot, equally adept at creating his own and curling off screens for a clear launching pad. Although scoring’s his main asset, Rip’s whole game is solid; he isn’t known as a defender or passer but his quickness and high IQ for the game cause problems across the board.
While he could be a different player on a weaker team, Rip happens to play on the Pistons, who have a very balanced attack and clearly defined roles among their players. Hamilton happens to be a scorer first, and not to demean his other talents, but Deroit has guys who can do them better. Thus he plays within himself, understands his job and has been doing it at a top-drawer level for years now. People hate on him for any number of reasons: because he’s a Piston, because he’s the type of player everyone hates to guard at a pickup game, because five years later he still won’t take off the fucking mask. Fine. Just don’t hate the game.
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